Panthers cruise to homecoming win

The score was Granville Central 48, Kestrel Heights 0.
Then they started the second quarter.
It was announced right before the start of the second quarter that the game clock malfunctioned and that the officials would keep the time on the field.
The scoreboard mysteriously kept working, though, and Granville Central kept adding points to it until the final result was 80-0 on Friday.
The clock really didn’t break down. The second, third and fourth quarters were truncated to keep the game moving, so the final score likely could have been even more lopsided.
Guys still need to play full speed in games like that, Granville Central coach John Hammett said.
“You just play,” Hammett said. “You want to play every play like your hair’s on fire. We just substituted. We played as hard as we could play the first quarter. We did. A lot of it was defensive scores, special teams scores. There’s nothing much you can do about that.”
Kestrel Heights coach David Lloyd had issues with the point differential.
“It was a problem for me,” Lloyd said. “I mean, you’re up (48) to nothing in the first quarter, you’re still throwing the football, your starters play the whole first half and I understand that. You want to play your starters; it’s homecoming. I can handle that.
“But then you come out in the second half and throw for another touchdown and, personally, I think it’s garbage.”
This is the sixth season of football for both schools, and neither have had great success. Lloyd has said that Kestrel Heights, a Durham charter school, has one varsity win in the program’s history, albeit against a junior varsity team.
Before reclassification put Granville Central on the 1-A level, the Panthers took their lumps in 2-A ball.
“This is the eighth win in school history,” Hammett said. “We had to play as a 2-A school with 1-A numbers ever since the school opened until this year, so we’ve been on the other side, and we’ve been trying to fight and build.
“A game like this is not enjoyable for either side.”
Kestrel Heights held its own against Granville Central’s reserves, forcing a fumble. But Lloyd didn’t have time for glass-half-full scenarios like that.
“Football’s football. They put 11 on the field. We put 11 on the field,” Lloyd said, standing up for his Hawks. “These guys show up every week, and I know it’s tough on them to come out and take losses like this.
“But they keep showing up. They keep showing up. They keep working hard. They support each other. They have each other’s back, and I wouldn’t trade them for anybody else.”Granville Central 80, Kestrel Heights 0
Kestrel|0|0|0|0— 0
Gran.Cen.|48|16|16|0—80First Quarter
GC—Bryce Parrott 58 run (Anthony Hardy run), 11:25.
GC—Parrott 1 run (Hardy run), 9:54.
GC—Hardy 28 punt return (Dylan Beckwith run), 8:01.
GC—Evans 2 run (Brad Parkstone from Jay Parker), 5:20.
GC—Safety, 3:32.
GC—Evans 10 pass from Parker (run fail), 1:49.
GC—A.J. Cearnel fumble return (Evans run), 1:12.Second Quarter
GC—Evans 18 run (Parrott run).
GC—Evans 33 run (Evans run).Third Quarter
GC—Shaquille Freeman 7 run (Trevor Parker run).
GC—Naize Young 31 pass from Ben Jackson (Trevor Parker).INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Kestrel Heights, Kaimond Johnson 3-3; Granville Central, Bryce Parrott 3-62 2TD, Corey Evans 4-61 3TD, Shaquille Freeman 1-7 TD.
PASSING—Kestrel Heights, Forrest Carrow 1-10-6 INT, Johnson 0-1-0 INT; Granville Central Jay Parker 4-7-100, Ben Jackson 1-1-31 TD.
RECEIVING—Kestrel Heights, Kendell Crump 1-6; Granville Central, Brad Parkstone 1-47,Evans 1-10 TD, Naize Young 1-31 TD.
RECORDS—Kestrel Heights 0-5; Granville Central 3-2